Wedding Cocktail hour

Hi, my friend is planning a wedding. She is tryin to have a big wedding on a small budget, so the money is being spread very thin. She is thinking of having a cocktail hour with out any cocktails (the wedding is going to be a dry wedding because she does not want to pay for alcohol) or hors d’oeuvres. Is this a reasonable thing to do? Is it considered rude not to provide guests with food/drink during this time? Also, since this is not a typical cocktail hour, she is wondering what she should have guests do at this time. My ideas were things like a photo booth etc., but that doesn’t seem like it would be in the budget.

@acmckay589: If there is a gap in time between the ceremony and the reception and the budget doesn’t allow for refreshments after the ceremony, she could just give some suggestions of place where people can go nearby, before the reception begins. No need to hold them in a room with nothing to eat or drink! Guests will likely coordinate with one another and entertain themselves before the reception begins.

Thanks, guys. You have all told me what I was expecting to hear. Now I kind of need to figure out how to tell her these things!… no fun! I have been trying to help her, but its hard to balance that with not upsetting her!

@rebwana: My parents did not give me a sound wedding budget, but I chose to do the a.m. wedding regardless because my mom and I did all the planning within 3 months (my husband was going to have to move a state away until I finish school and we wanted to be married before that), and you have many more choices if you are williing to go with a morning wedding. You are right, my wedding turned out to be much less expensive than my parents were expecting, in basically all aspects! However, I don’t think my friend would be interested in that, great advice though! 🙁

I would be annoyed if I went to a cocktail hour that had no cocktails or food for that matter. I would wonder why the hell I’m here. I could have gone somewhere for a snack. To me it would sour my experience a little.

Is the cocktail hour the entire reception or just a space filler between ceremony and reception? Are the reception and ceremony in the same location? If they’re in the same location she can’t just have an hour gap with nothing.